Gerd Muller leaps over Soviet goalkeeper Yevgen Rudakov after scoring in the final  

There was no change in the format, but the competition had a genuine first: at last a clear favourite. 

In only his second international, Gerd Muller had scored four times in one of the qualifying matches for the previous Championships - and now his awesome goalscoring talents were in full flow: he scored six in the qualifying group and another in the 3-1 win in the quarter-finals, the Federal Republic of Germany´s first success at Wembley. They were probably helped by Alf Ramsey´s decision to use two ball winners in the return leg in Berlin - but looked a class apart. 

Franz Beckenbauer had dropped back to become the first of the great attacking sweepers, Paul Breitner and Uli Hoeness were two superb twenty-year-olds, and G?nter Netzer had been recalled to add flair, arrogance and flowing blond locks to the midfield. The other semi-finalists seemed to be no more than a supporting cast. The hosts, Belgium, had surprised the champions, Italy, in the quarter-finals, but in the process had lost their midfield general Wilfried Van Moer with a broken leg. The USSR were there for the fourth time in a row but had even less flair than usual, and Hungary came with one of the most anonymous squads in their history. Everything looked set for the Gerd, Franz and G?nter show. 
 

'전차군단' 독일(서독)이 유럽정상의 자리에 등극했다. 독일은 '폭격기' 게르트 뮐러와 '황제' 베켄바우어를 앞세워 사상 처음으로 유럽선수권 우승을 차지했다. 

1970년도 멕시코 월드컵에서 10골을 터뜨리며 득점왕에 올랐던 게르트 뮐러는 이 대회에서도 4골을 터뜨리며 최고의 스타로 발돋움했다. 뮐러는 벨기에와의 준결승, (구)소련과의 결승전에서 각각 2골씩을 작렬하며 독일우승의 수훈갑이 됐다. 뮐러는 2년 뒤에 자국에서 열린 월드컵에서도 독일을 우승(4골 기록)으로 이끌어 전차군단의 전성시대를 이끌어 나갔다. 

독일은 뮐러의 신들린 골퍼레이드 속에 준결승에서 홈팀 벨기에를 2-1로 꺾고 결승에 올랐다. 그리고 결승에서 (구)소련을 3-0으로 완파하며 우승컵을 들어올렸다. 
 
 우승 - 독일 
 준우승 - (구)소련 
 3위 - 벨기에 
 4위 - 헝가리 

스포츠서울닷컴